


synergy

by dryadfiona



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23323051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dryadfiona/pseuds/dryadfiona
Summary: Max moves to LA to be with Rachel.
Relationships: Rachel Amber/Maxine "Max" Caulfield
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	synergy

Rachel ends up in Max's apartment before Max does, touring while Max is still stuck in Arcadia Bay.

Rachel's phone camera is nice enough that Max is pretty sure her phone isn't showing all the details of her face, but it's nice to see Rachel again after a year of long distance.

"This place is pretty great, Max," Rachel says with a conspiratorial whisper to her phone, as if the landlord isn't right there with her. "Good location, affordable rent, great lighting for your selfies. Not that you need any help looking cute!"

"Rachel," Max says when Chloe shoots her a knowing smirk from across the Two Whales. "I'm in _public_."

"Not my fault your headphones broke," Rachel says brightly. "Anyway, I'd go with this place over the other two I looked at."

"Do you need an apartment?" Max asks. "Because I still have a couple months to find something, if you need to move then you can take it."

"Nah," Rachel says. "I mean, my roommates _suck_ but I can deal until my lease is up."

"If you're sure," Max says.

"Yeah! Besides, I have a place lined up for then anyway."

* * *

Max's move to LA took graduating, saving money by working at the Two Whales and crashing with Chloe and Joyce for six months, and managing the difficulty of long-distance with a girl whose sleep schedule was broken when her school life was regimented. Needless to say, it's one of the harder things Max has ever done, but when she walks through the airport, makes her way past security, and gets tackle-hugged by a suntanned, smiling Rachel Amber, she decides it's definitely worth it, no matter what.

"Max!" Rachel says, arms still wrapped around Max with surprising strength. "Oh my God, it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Max says, hugging her back. "I, uh, do need to breathe though."

"My bad," Rachel says, dropping her arms immediately but staying right in Max's face. She definitely doesn't mind. "I've been surfing! I'm super strong now."

"Oh," Max says, noticing the muscle for the first time.

Rachel smirks a little when she sees Max's reaction. "Come on, babe, let's get to your place."

"We have to grab my suitcases first," Max says.

Rachel groans dramatically, but follows Max to the terminal. She ends up taking more of the bags than Max thought she could, which leads to another round of teasing, and it takes them ten minutes to get all their bags all the bags into the Uber and another thirty before they're alone in Max's apartment. Rachel presses Max against the door as soon as she's inside. They don't get to unpacking for awhile. 

* * *

Max doesn't finish unpacking for an entire week.

In her defense, she's busy and barely home, visiting galleries and taking photos and making up for lost time with her girlfriend. Rachel comes home with her after one of their dates, saying she'd _love_ to spend some quality time with her but her roommates are _so_ obnoxious, and Max rolls her eyes and walks her out, tipping the server 25%. (She always tipped, but now that she knows what it's like to serve, she always tips more than 20%. Usually 30, but she _just_ moved.)

When Rachel pushes Max into _her_ apartment, a sly grin on her face, Max expects to lead her back to the bedroom and go from there. Instead, she trips over a box, and Rachel barely catches her, and they both end up giggling. It breaks the moment, but she's so happy.

"I can't believe you haven't finished unpacking," Rachel snorts. 

"I've been busy," Max says. "You know what it's like."

"Yeah," Rachel says. "Still. Come on, let's finish up."

"...now?" Max says, thinking of Rachel's lips on hers, her mouth on Rachel. 

Rachel smiles at her again, private and alluring. She saunters closer, leaning in, and when her lips are close enough to brush Max's, she says, "Yeah. Sorry."

"I hate you," Max mumbles, but goes to finish unpacking. They end up staying up till dawn, ordering pizza at 3am to keep them going, and while it's _far_ from what Max had pictured, she has a good time.

She ends up waking up on her couch, Rachel half-on top of her, and thinks, _I could get used to this_.

* * *

"When's your lease up?" Max asks around the Chinese food in her mouth.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, that's _gross_ ," Rachel says. "And in two months."

"You said you have a place lined up?" Max asks. 

Rachel frowns a little. "I _did_. The landlord ended up raising rent prices by, like, three hundred bucks, so I'm still looking."

Max frowns back. There's an easy fix, obviously, but--they've only been actually with each other in person for a month now. Moving in is hard on relationships, right? She wouldn't want to break up with Rachel and then have her living in the same apartment. Especially since there's only the one bedroom. But she also doesn't want to risk her girlfriend being homeless in LA.

"Max, you've got your worried face on," Rachel says, cracking open a fortune cookie. "'Enthusiasm can change the current situation.' I _wish_ it were that easy."

Max laughs a little. "Um. You know you can always stay here while you look for a new place, right?"

Rachel smiles at her, uncharacteristically shy. "You sure? I wouldn't wanna impose or anything."

"Yeah," Max says, because seeing Rachel shy always fills Max with so much affection she could burst from it.

"Thanks," Rachel says, looking down and away from her. "Anyway, what's your fortune?"

Max cracks open her cookie. "'Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.' That's nice. More advice than a fortune, though."

"It's up to interpretation," Rachel says. "At least, that's what I like to think."

"So what does it mean?" Max asks, chewing on the not-very-good cookie.

"Hm," Rachel says, grabbing the fortune and looking down at it with a furrowed brow, like she's really concentrating. "If you work towards your dreams with confidence, they'll come true. Or, at the very least, the outcome will be more positive than negative."

Max smiles. "That's sweet. I could've used it back in Arcadia Bay."

"Was it hard? Being there?" Rachel's got her head resting on her knee, looking at Max with a searching expression she remembers from when they first met.

"Not really," Max admits. "But, like, working at the Two Whales and saving money to come here was really difficult, sometimes. Serving is the worst."

Rachel nods. "I had to serve when I first got here. Some nice family-owned Spanish place. Owner took half my tips."

"What an asshole," Max says. 

Rachel shrugs. "LA's got its fair share of assholes. I'm just glad you're here now. One more good person to balance it out."

Max's face feels warm, but she fights through her shyness and smiles at her girlfriend. "Thanks, Rachel."

* * *

Two months later, Rachel moves into Max's apartment. She doesn't move again after.


End file.
